Late-night CBP helicopter ride-along shows advanced tech used to apprehend migrants

Fox News took an exclusive late-night helicopter ride over the El Paso, Texas, sector, offering a glimpse into U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) operations to capture migrants trying to evade, and the challenges agents face each night. 

Our team got a first-hand look at the advanced technology that CBP uses to detect migrants and smugglers.

Agents with the agency’s Air and Marine Operations wore nighttime vision goggles as we flew above one of the busiest areas for migrant traffic. 

“All right, those two are crawling away,” one of the agents said. 

Fox News took an exclusive helicopter ride with Customs and Border Protection in El Paso, Texas. (Fox News)

Our camera crew on the ground captured several of the apprehensions, including that of a 19-year-old from Mexico and a man from Guatemala.

Not only are encounters down in the El Paso Sector, but agents tell Fox News the number of “gotaways,” which are migrants who evade capture, has also decreased. On Wednesday, Border Patrol agents said they had zero gotaways, which was the first time in a few years. 

Agents also pointed out the new presence of Border Patrol and National Guard vehicles stationed in hot spots. Prior to the Trump administration, Border Patrol agents were stretched so thin that they said they didn’t have the manpower to have a strong presence in these critical areas.